CAPTAIN AMERICA Has a [Redacted] For HYDRA Cause, More In UNCANNY AVENGERS #17 - Spoilers

By George Marston, Newsarama Contributor December 13, 2016 08:00am ET

Credit: Marvel Comics

This week’s Uncanny Avengers #17 from writer Gerry Duggan and artist Pepe Larraz concluded a story about Bruce Banner’s dead body being captured – and Hulked out – by the Hand. While that story came to a conclusion, it’s what happened to Banner’s body afterwards that may have some big ramifications on the Marvel Universe.

Spoilers for Uncanny Avengers #17 ahead.

Credit: Marvel Comics

Capturing Hulk in a magic circle, Doctor Voodoo exorcises the Hand magic from his body, returning him to his Banner form. To do so, Voodoo allows the Hand spirits to take his brother, Daniel Drumm, to their spirit realm, after Daniel betrayed him by allowing them to take Banner's body in the first place.

After purging the evil spirits of the Hand from Banner’s body, the Unity Squad delivered his remains to their former leader, Steve Rogers. Normally, that seems like a great idea, but given Rogers’s secret Hydra affiliations – and Hydra’s occasional association with the Hand – that may wind up coming back to haunt the Marvel Universe.

Don’t forget – not only does Steve have a mad scientist in the form of Erik Selvig on his payroll at the moment, he’s also indirectly responsible for Bruce Banner’s death after manipulating events to throw his heroic contemporaries off the trail of his secret (as revealed in Captain America: Steve Rogers #5).

Then again, the Unity Squad is has been working against the Red Skull for years – and though the Skull is technically Steve’s boss as part of Hydra, Steve has plans to take him down. With a Hulk-powered body in the mix, things could get messy - and maybe sooner than expected. Someone - likely the Red Skull - is in Quicksilver's head, ordering him to deliver the Avengers.

The next issue, Uncanny Avengers #18, is due out on shelves December 28.